Emergency services are doing everything they can to fight bushfires burning across the state and yet some people make their job all the more difficult. Just like the delivery truck driver who decided it was a good idea to stop in front of the driveway of the Burnie Fire Station on Friday morning. The selfish and irresponsible decision came just as the firefighters were called out to a job. The fire truck waited with its siren wailing as the truck driver moved his vehicle, not to a legal parking spot, but a few metres forward to a position that still blocked the exit for two other fire vehicles. The whole incident probably only delayed the fire truck 10 seconds but every second matters when it comes to emergencies. Fires can escalate quickly and so timing is vital, especially with bushfires burning in such far-flung regions of our state. The Advocate believes the majority of Coasters do the right thing and hopes that delivery truck driver will never block a fire station driveway again. But some people actively ignore the rules regarding emergency vehicles simply for the sake of convenience. You don’t have to spend too long on the road to see drivers who speed up when they hear sirens or don’t pull over to the left hand lane. For them it appears overtaking another car is much more important than helping emergency workers save lives. A crash between a ute and an ambulance racing to a medical emergency in Burnie on Thursday only emphasises the risk on the road for emergency vehicles. While questions remain about the incident, Tasmania Police said the ute driver had failed to give way to an ambulance while entering an intersection. We don’t know where that ambulance was headed, who it was trying to help and whether the time it took to dispatch a replacement vehicle affected their situation. But we do know most people in the grips of an emergency wouldn’t want an ambulance, a fire truck or police car to arrive a second later than necessary.

EDITORIAL: The risk of breaking the rules

Emergency services are doing everything they can to fight bushfires burning across the state and yet some people make their job all the more difficult.

Just like the delivery truck driver who decided it was a good idea to stop in front of the driveway of the Burnie Fire Station on Friday morning.

The selfish and irresponsible decision came just as the firefighters were called out to a job.

The fire truck waited with its siren wailing as the truck driver moved his vehicle, not to a legal parking spot, but a few metres forward to a position that still blocked the exit for two other fire vehicles.

The whole incident probably only delayed the fire truck 10 seconds but every second matters when it comes to emergencies.

Fires can escalate quickly and so timing is vital, especially with bushfires burning in such far-flung regions of our state.

The Advocate believes the majority of Coasters do the right thing and hopes that delivery truck driver will never block a fire station driveway again.

But some people actively ignore the rules regarding emergency vehicles simply for the sake of convenience.

You don’t have to spend too long on the road to see drivers who speed up when they hear sirens or don’t pull over to the left hand lane.

For them it appears overtaking another car is much more important than helping emergency workers save lives.

CRASH: An ambulance collided with a ute on the Bass Highway in Burnie. Picture: Brodie Weeding

A crash between a ute and an ambulance racing to a medical emergency in Burnie on Thursday only emphasises the risk on the road for emergency vehicles.

While questions remain about the incident, Tasmania Police said the ute driver had failed to give way to an ambulance while entering an intersection.

We don’t know where that ambulance was headed, who it was trying to help and whether the time it took to dispatch a replacement vehicle affected their situation.

But we do know most people in the grips of an emergency wouldn’t want an ambulance, a fire truck or police car to arrive a second later than necessary.